Landlord Discovers Bogus Company London Short Let Flats Trading From His Home Address

A warning has gone out to tenant and landlord consumers to beware of a fraudulent company trading as London Short Let Flats which is displaying a number of industry logos, including TPO and the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS).

The National […]

Fraud Warning Over London Short Let Flats

Landlord Discovers Bogus Company

London Short Let Flats
Trading From His Home Address

A warning has gone out to tenant and landlord consumers to beware of a fraudulent company trading as London Short Let Flats which is displaying a number of industry logos, including TPO and the National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS).

The National Approved Letting Scheme (NALS) has posted a warning to consumers on its own website telling them to exercise extreme caution when dealing with the following websites:

NALS Chief Executive, Isobel Thomson told Property Industry Eye: “We reported the original site to Action Fraud and also to Trading Standards and have advised anyone contacting us about the site to also report their concerns to Action Fraud. We also wrote to the registered office address of Londonshortflats and sent it recorded delivery but the letter was refused.”

A spokesperson for the Tenancy Deposit Service also confirmed that the fraudulent website is using the TDS logo without consent or even being registered.

The fraudulent company only came to light after landlord, Martin McGrath, posted on the popular landlord forum, Property Tribes, to say that he had received a letter from TDS at his home address, informing him that London Short Let Flats was using the logo when not entitled.

John Larkin QC, Northern Ireland’s Attorney General, has accused the Bank of Scotland of committing mortgage fraud in relation to the way that the bank has treated customers who fell behind on their residential property mortgages.

John Larkin QC, Northern Ireland’s Attorney General, has accused the Bank of Scotland of committing mortgage fraud in relation to the way that the bank has treated customers who fell behind on their residential property mortgages.

An earlier court hearing had previously ruled that the Bank of Scotland had unfairly re-billed some of their own customers who had fallen into arrears with their mortgage payments.

The Bank of Scotland had decided to appeal the verdict of the earlier court hearing but decided to drop that appeal on Monday morning. The Bank of Scotland then rejected Mr Larkin’s claims, saying it strongly takes issue with the allegations.

A barrister for the bank, Stephen Shaw QC, said Mr Larkin’s view of mortgage fraud was “based on a misapprehension”.

The National Landlords Association (NLA) has re-issued its 2010 warning to landlords, letting agents and tenants about online fraudsters operating in the UK’s private rental sector after resurgence of complaints over suspect practitioners.

The NLA began to receive a large number of complaints back in August 2010, concerning fraudsters […]

PRS Fraud Warning Re-Issued By NLA

NLA Warning About Rental
Fraudsters Re-Issued

The National Landlords Association (NLA) has re-issued its 2010 warning to landlords, letting agents and tenants about online fraudsters operating in the UK’s private rental sector after resurgence of complaints over suspect practitioners.

The NLA began to receive a large number of complaints back in August 2010, concerning fraudsters who operate online, using popular free websites such as Gumtree to attract unwitting victims, and the landlord association has now started to receive a new wave of complaints.

The NLA investigated and uncovered several online rental property fraudsters who would trick tenants into paying them an advance fee to rent a property by using underhand tactics such as official landlord association branding or fake letters claiming to be from NLA local representatives to support their demand for up-front payments in order to lure their victims in to a false sense of security.

There are a number of rogue traders back in the property investment community as the UK property market picks up pace again following the financial crisis that saw all but the most serious property investors continue to purchase properties.

The emergence of rogue traders and dodgy […]

Beware Of The Shits and Sharks! – Avoid Becoming A Victim Of Rogue Traders

Beware Of The Rogue Traders,
Shits And Sharks!

There are a number of rogue traders back in the property investment community as the UK property market picks up pace again following the financial crisis that saw all but the most serious property investors continue to purchase properties.

The emergence of rogue traders and dodgy dealers is nothing new in property investment industry as scammers try to part willing investors with their savings by offering property deals that don’t stack up, costly property investment educational courses and worthless seminars and workshops designed to provide some cover for a high pressure pitch fest full of ill conceived propaganda designed to trigger reckless spending.

There are a number of controversial rogue traders who have been exposed in recent years, however the threat of legal action prevents me from naming and shaming the latest batch of scammers that have been brought to our attention at the present time, but rest assured these rogue traders will be exposed among the property investment community very soon!

Following fresh warnings from the National Fraud Authority about the rising level of mortgage fraud in the UK, lenders want more done to protect their interests.

Mortgage fraud was a widespread problem before the financial meltdown and collapse of the property market back in 2007/8 due to the availability […]

Avoid Committing Mortgage Fraud

How To Guard Against Mortgage Fraud

Following fresh warnings from the National Fraud Authority about the rising level of mortgage fraud in the UK, lenders want more done to protect their interests.

Mortgage fraud was a widespread problem before the financial meltdown and collapse of the property market back in 2007/8 due to the availability of self- certification mortgages with buyers, brokers and mortgage advisers able to ‘self-declare’ earnings with little, if any, proof required by an industry too busy to carry out proper rules and checks on applicants.

Mortgage fraud costs the industry around £1 Billion (GBP) a year, leading the Financial Conduct Authority to want to instruct mortgage lenders to better acquaint themselves with the solicitors they work with.

The new stricter mortgage rules introduced in the Mortgage Market Review in April 2014 are intended to reduce the number of people who attempt to make false claims and self-certification mortgages are now a thing of the past.

However, this won’t stop mortgage fraud or prevent homeowners and property investors from being a victim of identity or registration fraud.

The National Landlords Association (NLA) say they been contacted by a number of tenants who have become victims of fraud after a new wave of rental property scams started to appear on Gumtree, the free listing website. The NLA […]

The National Landlords Association (NLA) say they been contacted by a number of tenants who have become victims of fraud after a new wave of rental property scams started to appear on Gumtree, the free listing website. The NLA has issued a fresh warning to would be tenants concerning the number of rental scams posted online by fake landlords.

Would-be tenants from overseas are being lured to apply for a number of attractive rental property opportunities across the UK advertised among genuine listings on the website, and after a brief email and/or postal exchange, the applicants are then asked to send money directly to the landlord in order to secure the rental property.

National newspapers are claiming that the Rent-To-Rent strategy for maximising profits from rental properties is immoral and illegal

Private rental sector landlords who utilise a rent-to-rent strategy, by which a property investor agrees to rent a property from the owner with the intention of sub-letting it to tenants […]

Fresh Warnings Over Rent-To-Rent

Rent-To-Rent Contracts May
Breach Mortgage Agreements

National newspapers are claiming that the Rent-To-Rent strategy for maximising profits from rental properties is immoral and illegal

Private rental sector landlords who utilise a rent-to-rent strategy, by which a property investor agrees to rent a property from the owner with the intention of sub-letting it to tenants for a profit, are being urged to check with their mortgage lenders that the practice will be allowed.

The warning was printed in The Sunday Times and follows last week’s news published by The Guardian newspaper and landlord news portal LandlordToday.co.uk, on the rent-to-rent phenomenon, which drew a mixed reaction.

Some lenders will not allow sub-letting, including The Mortgage Works (TMW), although BM Solutions does permit sub-letting.

The Government’s controversial welfare reforms will leave the benefits system more vulnerable to fraud, according to a group of MPs.

The Government decision to press on with welfare reforms means that Universal credit is set to be implemented nationally from October 2013 and replaces a string of existing benefits such as local housing allowance (LHA), […]

Welfare Reforms Could Increase Fraud

The Government’s controversial welfare reforms will leave the benefits system more vulnerable to fraud, according to a group of MPs.

The Government decision to press on with welfare reforms means that Universal credit is set to be implemented nationally from October 2013 and replaces a string of existing benefits such as local housing allowance (LHA), housing benefit (HB) and child tax credits.

Changes to IT system for universal credit could make it harder to distinguish fraudulent claims from those that are genuine, and there are calls for the government to give swift assurance that the introduction of Universal Credit will not cause a rise in benefit fraud,

MPs issued the warning after a report by the Communities and Local Government (CLG) Committee into the extent of the welfare reforms highlighted several concerns about the new Universal Credit scheme.

The first trial of the new system begins on 29 April 2013 in Ashton-Under-Lyne, Greater Manchester.

Lettings Agents And Tenant Applicants Are Falling Victim To A New Wave Of Online Fraudsters

Last week we learnt of the latest scam to affect the global property lettings industry and it could happen to any innocent lettings and property management agents out there, and what is worse it also affects any applicant for renting […]

Lettings Agents And Tenant Applicants Are Falling Victim

To A New Wave Of Online Fraudsters

Lettings Agents and Tenant Applicants Scammed by Fraudsters

Last week we learnt of the latest scam to affect the global property lettings industry and it could happen to any innocent lettings and property management agents out there, and what is worse it also affects any applicant for renting too!

It’s not only distressing and frustrating for the tenant applicants but it can be very damaging for the lettings agents businesses.

The basis of the new property scam is that criminals create the impression of being a legitimate letting agent by stealing and duplicating a decent and honest letting agents branding, logo’s and in effect clone their identity.

The original agent’s office number might be shown as a secondary telephone number below a mobile number, but calls are directed towards the mobile number rather than a land line..

Buy-to-let property investors are being warned to always be on their guard when they receive emails offering investment properties at discounted prices.

The latest warning has come from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) which says that the scammers are claiming to be from Swift Properties and the legal work is alleged to be being handled by a firm called Tams & Co Solicitors.

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